Manufacturers' responses have varied.
This move acknowledges that such language promotes a narrow and anti-Black vision of beauty by presenting pale complexions as the ideal.
Are these meaningful changes? Will they put a dent in the global trade in skin lighteners, now estimated to reach
Never before have activists and consumers in so many different countries simultaneously challenged major cosmetics manufacturers with such persistent criticism. Yet, my research on the layered history of skin lightening in the US,
Many names, many uses
Manufacturers have long used a variety of names and messages to sell skin lighteners. This variety stems partly from the competitive nature of capitalist marketing and partly from the diverse reasons why people buy these products.
In the early 1900s, skin lighteners were usually marketed as "freckle waxes" or "skin bleaches". They ranked among the world's most popular cosmetics and often contained mercury. Consumers included white, black and brown women.
Some women used waxes and bleaches to fade blemishes and dark spots, including freckles. Others used them to achieve an overall lighter complexion. Racialised beauty ideals - rooted in the history of slavery, colonialism, and segregation - shaped these desires.
In the 1920s and 1930s, many white consumers swapped waxes and bleaches for tanning lotions as seasonal tanning came to embody new forms of white privilege. With this shift, skin lighteners became cosmetics primarily associated with people of colour. For black and brown consumers living in places like the US,
During the 1950s and 1960s, manufacturers softened their marketing language. Surveys in the US found that many
Criticism forced manufacturers to adjust in other ways. In 1971 Kenya's postcolonial government banned Ambi skincare ads for abusing "the dignity of Africans" by claiming that "new Africans" were "light skinned Africans who used Ambi". Black Consciousness organisers in
Lessons from an anti-apartheid victory
In 1991 South African activists achieved more than marketing concessions from manufacturers. What happened provides important lessons for today.
A coalition of progressive medical professionals and Black Consciousness organisers convinced the apartheid government, in its waning months, to ban all cosmetics containing depigmenting agents including harmful mercury and hydroquinone, by then the most common active ingredient. They convinced the government to become the first in the world to prohibit cosmetic advertisements from making any claims to "bleach", "lighten" or "whiten" skin. Like today's concessions to
The South African efforts achieved mixed results. On the one hand, activists effectively raised awareness about the physical and psychological harm of skin lightening. This led to decreased sales during the 1980s. After the 1991 regulations were implemented, in-country manufacture shuttered and supply dried up.
But these gains did not persist. The supply of banned skin lighteners crept back as traders smuggled them in from elsewhere. Soon, domestic manufacture reemerged, this time in secret. On occasion, government officials have raided stashes of skin lighteners. Much more illegal inventory has slipped their notice. Some officials complain that they have insufficient resources to monitor all cosmetics products. Other observers blame government corruption and apathy.
Demand returned as well. During the 2000s, a new generation of users emerged, often unaware of earlier struggles against skin lighteners and the dangers they posed. In post-apartheid
Over the past decade, some African women have targeted that association. Kenyan artist Ng'endo Mukii offered a powerful critical reflection on skin lightening in her 2012 short film Yellow Fever.
Somali-American activist
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